Kaye Cunningham, MD

	Department: Family Medicine Services [Map] Title: Physician Degree: MD Interests: Hiking, walking, traveling, and spending time with the family. Languages: I speak/understand some Spanish although I am not fluent Physician Homepage
Bio I attended medical school at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and thereafter did my residency specialty in Family Practice at Highland Hospital/University of Rochester in Rochester, New York. I recently joined Kaiser in March 2008 after 8 years in private practice in Arizona. and Previous to that, I worked with the federal government at the Zuni IHS in New Mexico for 2 years. I chose to join Kaiser Permanente because of their commitment to excellent medical care and patient satisfaction. I became a family physician with the hopes of doing just that. My practice philosophy is shared decision making with my patients with the goal to improve their health. As your physician, I will try to provide you with the best medical care that I am able to, as if it were my own family. I look forward to seeing you all in the clinic and may you have continued good health.
My Medical Specialty
More details about my specialty: I enjoy being a family physician because of the diversity of medicine that we practice. You also have to love working with people to be a family doctor, and I certainly do. It brings me such joy to be able to help people with such a sensitive topic as their health. My specialty interests and affiliations within my field: My professional interests include international health issues, and I have volunteered in under-served area of South America, Africa and Australia.
Interests
One of my best travel experiences was my trip to Machu Pichu in Peru. What an amazing wonder of the world. I recall the day we visited the ruins in early morning there was a landslide 2 hours later. We were trapped at the ruins for the whole day. It was probably one of the least crowded days to visit the ruins which is frequently swamped with visitors from all over the world.
Family & Friends
People in my life: My husband and I have been married for over 15 years. We met in Australia when I was volunteering at a rural clinic there. I enjoy his humor and his unyielding support.
My pets: We have 3 dogs--all with their own personalities.They love to go on long driving trips with us, and are always ready to take a walk. They are all rescued dogs and certainly make the best pets.
Travel
An adventure I've had: I have had many adventures, but one that comes to mind is my trip to the Amazon jungle in Ecuador. There, with a group of other college students, I studied medicinal botany (plants used for medicinal purposes). It was a trip with many lessons: deforestation of the Amazon jungle and how it affected the lives of the indigenous peoples, plants used for medicinal purposes, and survival in the jungle. I revisited the area many years later and it was sad to see that many of the younger people had lost their knowledge of the medicinal use of the plants, and at the same time they could not afford to pay for non-traditional medical care at the clinic downriver. Favorite place in the world: Santa Rosa, California--we live here and just love it.